3 Roads Communications

The Black Elks turned the historic John Brown Farm into a concert venue for what was known as the Chitlin Circuit, a national circuit for Black musicians to play in safe venues in known African-American neighborhoods. They had incredible artists. In his book called "From John Brown to James brown" Ed Maliskas talks about one concert goer who said when James Brown showed up, he walked into the "Green Room" (the back room) and said it was "the dankest, darkest green room ive ever been in!"

This is a clip from our full length documentary, called The House on Jonathan Street, that covers the economic and social history of Washington County, Hagerstown, and the Historic Jonathan Street Community. Follow us for more clips from the documentary, historic photos, and snippets of the over 40 hourlong interviews we conducted for this documentary!